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ELLAVILLE – On Tuesday, April 16, in front of a jam packed room full of teammates, family and friends, Schley County senior free safety/wide receiver Carson Westbrook signed his letter of intent to continue his education and to play football for Head Coach Deon Sanders at the University of Colorado as a Preferred Walk on.

“I had a lot of great coaches that helped me throughout this process and we got in touch with Colorado and they ended up making me a PWO (Preferred Walk On).

As a free safety for the Wildcats in 2024, Westbrook had a total of six interceptions on the season. As a wide receiver, he caught 42 balls for 735 yards and scored five touchdowns.

Schley County Head Football Coach Darren Alford addressed the crowd and told them that he could see something special in Westbrook back when he was in middle school. “I remember him in sixth grade when he came up and was playing around in the gym. I always go out and walk around the gym a lot when the kids are out there,” Alford said. “What everybody doesn’t realize is that I’m scouting at that time. I’m watching kids how they run. I’m watching how they catch. I’m watching how they do the things that they do in the gym during that time. I’ve got my eyes on them and try to see who I want to make sure comes out to play football for us every year. Carson was one of those that caught my eye.”

Alford went on to say that the will to succeed is deeply rooted in a person’s willingness to work. “One thing that I’ve learned about Carson is he’s going to be successful in life because there’s absolutely no doubt that his work ethic is as good as any kid that I’ve been around and he’s willing to do the things that are necessary to be great,” Alford said. Alford went on to say that he has zero doubt that in four years from now, he will have to make plans to go out to Colorado to watch Westbrook play as a starter because Westbrook’s desire for success is that great.

When asked if he had anything to say, Westbrook thanked everybody in the room for the profound impact they’ve had on his life, but especially his parents, Scott and Michelle Westbrook, who were sitting beside him at the table. “They’ve put me in every position to succeed and helped me out,” Westbrook said.

Much of the credit in getting Colorado to take Westbrook was due to the work of Scott Burgess, who made calls to several college coaches. “Luckily, Carson is a very, very good student with a great GPA and very high test scores, so it makes it very easy for me talking to college coaches about what kind of character he has and what kind of grades he has,” Burgess said. “That made it a lot easier for Carson to be able to find a spot, so when I reached out to one of the coaches on Colorado’s staff, they were very happy to take him on as a Preferred Walk On.”

While at CU, Westbrook plans to get an undergraduate degree in Environmental Engineering and would like to go to law school and specialize in water rights.